Girl storms the court for Reebok, Venables Bell & Partners
By A SHOOT Staff Report
Created by San Francisco-based agency Venables Bell & Partners, Reebok’s “Sport the Unexpected” campaign kicks off with “Storm the Court,” a film featuring an unexpected, and seemingly uninvited guest, a girl with an other worldly vibe, who interrupts a pick-up basketball game–stopping street smart male players in their tracks.
This lass clearly travels to the beat of her own drummer–but in this case, it’s an offbeat beat we can literally hear as she unfurls a bit of inspired, strange choreography. A basketball player has stopped his shot in mid-release and eventually starts to move to the beat of the girl–as do game onlookers, even extending all the way to a guy in his apartment looking out of his second story window.
The film showcases the Reebok Aztrek Double, an all-new update to the brand’s original all-terrain adventure shoe from 1993.
Tom Noakes of PRETTYBIRD directed and Larkin Seiple lensed “Storm the Court” with music supervision, sound design and audio post from Barking Owl in West Los Angeles. The music track was “Prayer Hands” by A-Trak and YehMe2. Editor was Shane Reid of Exile.
“Storm the Court” topped SHOOT’s quarterly Top Ten Tracks Chart. Music supervisor Jessica Dierauer working alongside the Barking Owl ensemble which included creative director/partner Kelly Bayett, sound designer Morgan Johnson, producer KC Dossett and audio post engineer AJ Murillo.
Creative challenges
Music supervisor Dierauer reflected on the Reebok piece, sharing, “The biggest challenge was finding something that was as irreverent and cheeky as the agency’s and director’s vision for the spot. This track (‘Prayer Hands’) was in the first round that I sent over when they were in pre-production. It felt a bit like a wildcard and maybe too absurd but I loved how hypnotic and mystical it was. Really seemed like it was her inner monologue. The music itself felt like it was freaking the genre and taking the piss out which worked so well with the concept."
Barking Owl creative director/partner Bayett added, “The music was an edit that Shane Reid, the editor did. He is an incredible music editor and just nailed it.”
Meanwhile from sound designer Johnson’s perspective, “one of the biggest challenges was not overdoing it once the storm girl is revealed. I feel like we could’ve easily gone too far making the sounds too intense or menacing. But in the end I think we achieved a nice balance of strangeness and realism which helps to keep your attention drawn. But most of all it was just fun to work on. Allie (Nordstrom who is Venables Bell & Partners’ sr. art director) and Elliot (Nordstrom, sr. copywriter for the agency) were amazing to work with and really had a clear vision of what they wanted.”
In addition to the Nordstroms, the Venables Bell & Partners team included executive creative director Will McGinness, creative director Byron Del Rosario, director of integrated production Hilary Coate, producer Namrata Abhyankar, associate partner/head of strategy Michael Davidson, and sr. strategist Dylan Phillips.
Click here to see the full quarterly Top Ten Tracks Chart.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More